A North Canterbury helicopter pilot says locals were very lucky to escape property damage, after a scrub fire in Hurunui over the weekend.
Firefighters contained the fire on Sunday morning, after it burned through 40 hectares (ha) of vegetation in the vicinity of Island Hills, SH7 - Lewis Pass Road, between Hanmer Springs and Springs Junction.
Bill Hales from Alpine Springs Helicopters, who fought the fire from the air, said three houses and a handful of sheds were threatened by the flames.
"They were very, very lucky," he said. "At the time I got there and got working, the fire had jumped the road, and gone across the paddocks, round behind the houses."
"The fire brigade boys had done a great job dampening down round the houses and the sheds, but it had the potential to be a disaster."
He said the fire had burned through the ground vegetation under a stand of trees, but not climbed into the canopy - had that caught fire, they would still be up there, he said.
He said there had been a fire in that exact spot about ten years back, but this was the area's first vegetation fire this season.
"We're dry, you know, someone's only got to chuck a cigarette out and you've got problems."
Temperatures in the high twenties, combined with a north-westerly wind, "didn't help things".
The fire was under control by dark on Saturday night.
Speed restrictions had been lifted on SH7 overnight while firefighting operations were suspended, but the temporary 30kmh speed limit would be in place again from 7am to ensure the safety of personnel working on the road.
Three crews of firefighters would be back on the scene on Monday, with a helicopter on standby.
Hales said it was "very difficult" to a fire from the air.
"You've got a heavy bucket of water beneath you, you're on a long line, you've got multiple obstacles to look out for - trees, wires."
Smoke was your biggest obstacle, and wind could be your best friend - "you'll be a little bit more lift" - or your worst enemy - "blowing smoke where you want to be working".
Water on this occasion was taken from a big farm pond nearby, as well as Horseshoe Lake and the Hope River.
"It's not a place for complacency," he said. "You've got to know what you're doing."
